Male boxers always say they want to fight the top opponents in their weight class. As we all know, often it’s just talk.

Enter female middleweight world champions Claressa Shields (8-0, 2 KOs) and Christina Hammer (24-0, 11 KOs). They not only want to take on the cream of the crop, they are going to throw down with one another in two weeks – on April 13 – from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City (on Showtime).

At stake are all four major titles, meaning this is for the undisputed championship.

The significance of this fight is not lost on promoter Tom Loeffler, who advises Hammer.

“These two fighters can be an example for a lot of male boxers,” he said. “These are two undefeated fighters in their prime putting it all on the line to show who is the best. You don’t see that very often these days.”

Shields, a two-time gold-medal winner in the Olympic Games, agrees this is a big deal.

“I think for women’s boxing this is a true superfight that we’ve never gotten before,” said Shields, 24, of Flint, Mich. “We’ve never had a fight like this in women’s boxing.

“It’s great to make this happen and us being from two parts of the world makes this fight even better.”

Indeed, this fight features a terrific fighter from the U.S. and another from Germany via Kazakhstan.

Mark Taffet, a former HBO Sports executive, manages Shields. He really talks up this fight.

“This is a very special time,” he said. “This fight is one of the most significant fights I’ve worked on in my career, because of the place it will hold in history.”

The winner would become just one of six fighters to hold all four major belts in a weight class simultaneously. The five able to make that claim are Terence Crawford, Jermain Taylor, Bernard Hopkins, Oleksandr Usyk and Cecilia Braekhus.

Hammer, 28, has been a world champion for nearly nine years. But this will by far be the biggest stage on which she has fought.

“This is a big risk to come from Germany to the U.S., but I believe the best should fight the best and I did what I had to so that this could happen,” Hammer said. “This fight can be a game-changer for our sport.”

Let’s face it, women’s boxing has always been a tough sell. Some guys just refuse to accept it as part of our sport. The bottom line is, Shields and Hammer are talented boxers who have worked their behinds off to become top pound-for-pound fighters.

To Stephen Espinoza, president of Showtime Sports, gender doesn’t matter when this much know-how exists.

“Let’s get one thing straight here,” he said. “This isn’t just an important women’s fight. This isn’t just a high-quality women’s boxing match. This is a high-quality boxing match. This is an important fight.

“So certainly we have two very skilled women; we’re not going to ignore that fact. But this is one of the best fights that can be made in this sport. Two pound-for-pound boxers, the best fighting the best.”

Espinoza then forgot about diplomacy.

“If you are not interested in this fight, then candidly, you are not a boxing fan,” he said. “This is as good as this sport gets.”

“This is going to be a historic night of boxing,” he said. “If you watch this fight live and in person, you will want to hold onto your ticket as a memento.”

This bout was supposed to take place in November, but Hammer pulled out with an injury that was not specified.

Aaron McKenna shooting for stars

When a young boxer has just six professional bouts and is only 19, he may have no idea when he believes he might be ready for a shot at a world title.

But Aaron McKenna, fighting out of Woodland Hills via Ireland, knows exactly when he wants that time to be for him.

“I’d like to be in line for a small (regional) belt by the end of the year, and I’d like to fight for a (major) title before my 21st birthday, which is in July 2020, so I have some work to do,” he said.

McKenna (6-0, 4 KOs) on Saturday will try to continue his trek toward the promised land when he takes on Loretto Olivas (3-0, 1 KO) of Mexico at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio (on DAZN).

A tall welterweight at 6-foot-1, McKenna has the chance to increase his stock every time he fights. He can only do that by being impressive, though, and a knockout always helps.

From the sound of it, he wants that. But he knows it might not happen, so he’ll be good with performing well.

“I’m going to put on a great show,” McKenna said. “If the knockout is there, I’ll take it. If not, I’ll do what I need to do to get the win.”

This fight will take place underneath the Ryan Garcia-Jose Lopez lightweight main event.

Etc.

Oleksandr Gvozdyk (16-0, 13 KOs) of Ukraine on Saturday will defend his light heavyweight belt against Doudou Nbumbu (38-8, 14 KOs) of France from 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. … Vasiliy Lomachenko (12-1, 9 KOs) of Ukraine on April 12 at Staples Center will defend his two lightweight titles against former champion Anthony Crolla (34-6-3, 13 KOs) of England (on ESPN+). … We all want to see the aforementioned Crawford tangle with fellow welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. While we’re waiting to see if that unfolds, Crawford (34-0, 25 KOs), of Omaha, Neb., on April 20 will defend against former champion Amir Khan (33-4, 20 KOs) of England from Madison Square Garden in New York City (on pay-per-view).

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